Blade dispenser with used blade vault

ABSTRACT

A combined dispenser of blades for injector razors with a used blade vault the article comprising two independently formed parts one of which is a body member for new blades with a blade advancing slide, and the other of which is a used blade vault member, the vault member being in general trough shaped into which the body member fits, and having a front hook lug engageable in an opening in the bottom wall of the body member and at the rear a nose portion slidably engaged in the rear open end of the body member and engaging with the stack of new blades to aid in maintaining the blades in position, and the rear part of the vault member forming an end closure for the body member, the two members being permanently assembled by a compound but simple relative movement and in final position being fully locked together by various elements including a detent means which snaps into interlocking engagement.

United States Patent 1191 Iten Nov. 19, 1974 BLADE DISPENSER WITH USED BLADE Primary Examiner-Stanley H. Tollberg VAULT Assistant ExaminerNorman L. Stack, Jr.

Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Watson, Leavenworth, [75] Inventor. Clemens A. Iten, Staunton, Va. Kelton & Taggart [73] Assignee: Philip Morris Incorporated, New

York, NY 57 ABSTRACT Filed; July 27, 1972 A combined dispenser of blades for injector razors with a used blade vault the article comprising two in- [211 Appl' 275704 dependently formed parts one of which is a body member for new blades with a blade advancing slide, [52] US. Cl. 221/102 and the other of which is a used blade vault member, [51] Int. Cl B65d 35/22 the vault member being in general trough shaped into Field of Search which the body member fits, and having a front hook 2 /2 206/16 BC lug engageable in an opening in the bottom wall of the body member and at the rear a nose portion slidably [56] References Cited engaged in the rear open end of the body member and UNITED STATES PATENTS engaging with the stack of new blades to aid in main- 2,622,320 12/1952 Mead 221/102 x mining the blades position and the rear Part of the 3,253,737 5/1966 Kuhn] 221 102 vault member fmmlhg an end chm? for the body 3,288,328 11 1966 De Longuyon 221/102 member, the two members being Permanently assem- 3,460,712 8/1969 Lowry 221/102 bled by a compound but simple relative movement 3,543,918 12/1970 Waterman et al.... 221/102 X and in final position being fully locked together by 3,549,046 12/1970 lten. 221/102 various elements including a detent means which 3,602,366 8/l97l Dawidow cz 22l/l02 X snaps into imfl-[Ocking engagement 3,602,366 8/1971 Dawidowicz 206/16 BC 8 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures lb 2 7 1 12 2s 1 E i-251L123 r Mb/l 4| l? 5 1 El 42 g i \V W J Iiiih [a R f '5 137 1 e 1 I s n- J I 51 70" 3B 54.. 56 I z 111 50 w 59 [I11 62 l 53 35" 57 I 1 ,III 11/ 11111714 BLADE DISPENSER WITH USED BLADE VAULT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The subject matter concerns dispensers for inserting new blades into injector type razors. In the course of development the dispenser in many cases embodied chambers for receiving used blades to avoid the inconvenience and hazards of leaving used blades lying about free. Many patents have issued in which the used blade chamber is provided by one or more parts applied or attached to the main new blade and dispenser part and cooperating therewith to form the extra chamber. The following U.S. patents are it is believed representative of such prior art: Butlin 2,674,036; Bultin 2,792,933; Kuhnl 3,126,091; Kuhnl 3,253,737; and Lowry 3,460,712.

THE PRESENT INVENTION The complete assembly is made up of two main members each separately formed and readily assembled in a simple operation and permanently locked together in a firm rigid assembly without any auxiliary parts or operations. Although of apparently complicated shape the vault member may be conveniently molded of plastic. The vault member which is trough shaped includes a nose portion integrally cast therewith which extends into the rear open end of the body member into engagement with the new blade stack and cooperating with other parts to maintain the blades in proper position to be fed to the injector slide. The vault member provides the rear end closure for the body member. The vault member also has a front hook part which extends up through the bottom wall and engages over a portion of the wall to secure the front ends of the members together. Joining of the two members is effected by a compound but easily effected relative motion in which the nose portion is moved into the open rear end of the body member and the hook portion is advanced along the bottom wall into the opening therein. In the final home position a detent means automatically snaps into locking position preventing reverse relative movement. Various parts are in solid engagement resulting in a firm rigid assembly.

Other features and advantages will be made apparent from a consideration of a representative embodiment as described hereinafter and shown in the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the complete assembly;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the used blade vault;

FIG. 3 is a view in elevation and partly in section showing the initial relation of the body member and the vault member in assembling;

FIG. 4 is a vertical cross section on the plane IV-IV of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a forward end view looking in the direction of the arrows VV of FIG. 1 but with portions of the body member and vault member broken away; and

FIG. 6 is a vertical section taken on the plane VI-VI of FIG. 1.

The complete assembly embodies two main parts comprising the body member 10 and vault member 11 which latter part provides a storage space for used blades and a rear end closure for the body member 10. The body member which may be made of plastic or preferably sheet metal has the usual key 12 for insertion into the head of the injector type razor for blade changing. Mounted over the top portion of the body member is the blade injector slide 14 adapted to be grasped by the fingers in the area between the two pairs of ears l5 and 16 as shown particularly in FIG. 1. The slide has a lower portion 18 movable along the slot 19 of the body member and has flange portions 20 located below the top wall of the body member the widened portion formed by the flanges 20 being adapted to engage the rear end of a top blade and advance it into the razor in the usual manner. The movement of the slide member is limited by lugs struck out from the side wall of the body member, the lug 22 appearing in FIG. 1 serving to limit the retracted position of the slide. The body member has an open rear end the forward end being closed by a flange portion 25 bent around from the side wall 26 (FIG. 5). A stack of new blades 27 is maintained upward against the top wall portions 28 in the usual manner such as by a leaf spring 30 shown particularly in FIG. 4. The bottom wall 31 has at its mid portion extending inwardly a limited distance from the rear end a slot 32 adapted to receive an arm on the vault member as will be explained hereinafter.

The used blade vault member 11 which may be of molded plastic is generally trough shaped and accordingly includes the side walls 33 and 34 and a bottom wall 35 the bottom wall, however, having openings 36 and 37 the latter being provided for the insertion of used blades one such blade being shown in broken lines 38 in FIG. 4. Because of its shape and manner of assembly to the body member it may appropriately be referred to as a clip-on vault. At the rear wall 40 of the vault extending inwardly therefrom, that is to the left in FIGS. 3 and 4, is an upstanding nose piece indicated generally at 41. The nose piece is located on a supporting arm 42 integral with the back wall 40 and the bottom wall 35 extending upwardly and to the left as shown particularly in FIGS. 3 and 4. The nose piece 41 has a configuration looking down from the top as indicated particularly in FIG. 2, and in the axial direction the shape corresponds generally to the transverse interior shape of the body member 10. It includes a vertical rib 43 having a front face 44 beveled at an angle of 45 adapted to engage the corresponding bevel at the end of the cutting edge on a standard injector blade. The nose 41 also may have as shown in FIG. 2 a small vertical rib 45 adapted to engage the rounded comers at the rear edge of the stack of blades 27.

The forward portion of the vault has an inner vertical wall 50 which at its upper edge has a narrowed right angle lug 51 shown particularly in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 which aids in locking the vault onto the body member as will be explained more fully hereinafter.

The side walls of the vault member at their inner surface have a series of vertical ribs as shown in the top plan view of FIG. 2 and also as located on the wall 33 in FIGS. 3 and 4. These vertical ribs include opposed pairs 53 and 54 which serve to keep blades from slipping out between the body and vault members. The pairs of ribs 55 and 56 are beveled along their right hand edge as viewed in FIG. 2 to aid in directing used blades into the vault. Preferably the side walls have a pair of short lugs 57 at each side of the blade entrance 37 to assist in directing the blade upon initial insertion. Also the bottom wall 35 is inclined at 58.

The inner surfaces on the walls 33 and 34 also include an opposed pair of vertical ribs 59 beveled along their left edge as appears in FIG. 2. As will be explained more fully hereinafter the upper ends of these beveled ribs 59 are adapted to snap into notches 60 located at the bottom area of the side walls of the body member 10 the notches extending around into the bottom wall of the body member as appears in FIGS. 3 and 6, the arrangement constituting an automatically interlocking detent means.

The nose assembly 41, 42 includes a rib structure 62 extending upwardly from the bottom Wall of the vault which is V-shaped as viewed from the top (FIG. 2), and the rear wall 40 of the vault has projecting inwardly therefrom a pair of spaced rectangular lugs 63 (FIGS. 2 and 3). In assembling the dispenser the body 10 rests on the support 62 and the lugs 63 engage over the top of the bottom wall to aid in locking the parts together, as will be explained in more detail.

The manner of assembly of the two major parts is illustrated particularly in FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. 3 shows the initial relative positioning of the body and vault members. The side walls 33 and 34 of the vault are made to straddle over the body member 10 and the nose 41 positioned at the open end of the body member and progressively advanced thereinto. Initially light forces A and B are applied and as the nose advances into the open end of the body member the right angle lug 51 reaches the opening 70 in the bottom of the body member and extends therethrough until the forward nose part 51a engages over the bottom wall of the body member as appears in FIG. 4. Concurrently the side walls of the vault are forced apart when the right end of the body member reaches the beveled ribs 59 and continued movement of the vault to the left causes the ribs 59 to snap into the notches 60 of the body member permitting the side walls of the vault to resume their normal position closely engaging the side walls of the body member. Entrance of the nose structure into the open end of the body member is permitted by arm 42 having a free passage in the slot 32 in the bottom wall of the body member. In the final stage the lugs 63 in the rear end of the vault engage over the bottom wall of the body member which rests on the rib structure 62. The assembly therefore is made in one simple easy operation and the parts are thereupon fully locked together by the several interlocking means. Relative axial movement in'one direction is prevented by the detent means comprising engagement of the ribs 59 in the notches 60 of the body member, and in the opposite direction by engagement of the rear wall of the vault 11 against the rear end of the body member 10. Relative lateral movement is restrained by the close fitting of the body member in the U-shaped trough-like vault member. The body member rests firmly on the front vertical wall and the internal vertical ribs and the rear V-shaped part 62 of the vault and is restrained from separation in the opposite direction by hook part 51a at the front and lugs 63 at the rear.

The vertical ribs 43 and 45 on the nose piece 41 extend upwardly beyond the mid portion of the nose piece to provide a lowered channel space 71 whereby the widened portion comprising the flanges 20 of the slide may pass freely over the nose piece upon retraction of the slide but the blades are prevented from being dragged along past the nose piece by the higher extent of the ribs 43 and 45.

The arm, 42 and rib structure 62 at the rear of the used blade chamber and the vertical ribs on the interior walls of the vault member all cooperate to maintain the blades in orderly arrangement and in avoiding one or more blades from getting into a position blocking the entrance of subsequently inserted blades.

Since various changes may be made in the apparatus and in the product without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

l. A blade dispenser having an elongated body for new blades and a vault member for used blades, said body member having top, bottom and side walls and an open rear end, said bottom wall having an opening therein near the front end; said vault member being of plastic molded as a single unitary piece of continuous material and having a forward upstanding lug with a top forwardly extending hook portion and said vault member further having at the rear end an upstanding nose portion; in assembled relation of the members said lug projecting through said bottom wall with the hook engaged forwardly over a section of said bottom wall and said nose portion extending into said open rear end of the body member; and said members having interlocking elements normally preventing relative axial displacement.

2. A blade dispenser in accordance with claim 1 in which said nose portion engages the rear end of the new blades in said body member.

3. A blade dispenser in accordance with claim 2 in which said nose portion has a vertical rib inclined in the horizontal direction to engage the end bevel at the cutting edge of a standard injector blade.

4. A blade dispenser in accordance with claim 1 in which said nose portion is mounted on an upstanding arm projecting up through a slot open ended to the rear in the bottom wall of the body member.

5. A blade dispenser in accordance with claim 1 in which the vault member has opposed side walls and an open top the side walls normally engaging the side walls of the body member, and said interlocking elements include detent means located between the respective engaging side walls, the side walls of the vault member being flexed outwardly in assembling the two members to permit relative movement until the detent means snaps into locking engagement.

6. A two member blade dispenser and used blade vault comprising a body member for new blades and a vault member adapted to receive used blades, said body member having an open rear end and a bottom wall with an opening therein adjacent the front end; said vault member being generally trough shaped having side walls and an upstanding hook lug adjacent the front end and a nose portion at the rear end extending upwardly and forwardly the parts being arranged such that in assembling the said nose portion may be moved forwardly into the open end of the body member and concurrently the said hook portion moved along the said bottom wall of the body member and up into the said opening to engage over a portion of the bottom wall, the side walls of the vault member enclosing between them the body member, and said members having interlocking detent means to prevent relative retraction of the members from the assembled relation.

bars.

8. A body member and vault member combination in accordance with claim 6 in which said nose portion corresponds generally to the interior shape and size of the body member and in assembled relation engages the ends of the new blades. 

1. A blade dispenser having an elongated body for new blades and a vault member for used blades, said body member having top, bottom and side walls and an open rear end, said bottom wall having an opening therein near the front end; said vault member being of plastic molded as a single unitary piece of continuous material and having a forward upstanding lug with a top forwardly extending hook portion and said vault member further having at the rear end an upstanding nose portion; in assembled relation of the members said lug projecting through said bottom wall with the hook engaged forwardly over a section of said bottom wall and said nose portion extending into said open rear end of the body member; and said members having interlocking elements normally preventing relative axial displacement.
 2. A blade dispenser in accordance with claim 1 in which said nose portion engages the rear end of the new blades in said body member.
 3. A blade dispenser in accordance with claim 2 in which said nose portion has a vertical rib inclined in the horizontal direction to engage the end bevel at the cutting edge of a standard injector blade.
 4. A blade dispenser in accordance with claim 1 in which said nose portion is mounted on an upstanding arm projecting up through a slot open ended to the rear in the bottom wall of the body member.
 5. A blade dispenser in accordance with claim 1 in which the vault member has opposed side walls and an open top the side walls normally engaging the side walls of the body member, and said interlocking elements include detent means located between the respective engaging side walls, the side walls of the vault member being flexed outwardly in assembling the two members to permit relative movement until the detent means snaps into locking engagement.
 6. A two member blade dispenser and used blade vault comprising a body member for new blades and a vault member adapted to receive used blades, said body member having an open rear end and a bottom wall with an opening therein adjacent the front end; said vault member being generally trough shaped having side walls and an upstanding hook lug adjacent the front end and a nose portion at the rear end extending upwardly and forwardly the parts being arranged such that in assembling the said nose portion may be moved forwardly into the open end of the body member and concurrently the said hook portion moved along the said bottom wall of the body member and up into the said opening to engage over a portion of the bottom wall, the side walls of the vault member enclosing between them the body member, and said members having interlocking detent means to prevent relative retraction of the members from the assembled relation.
 7. A body member and vault member combination in accordance with claim 6 in which the interlocking detent means comprises a projection on the wall of one member and an opening in the corresponding wall of the other member, the side walls of the vault member being outwardly flexible to permit the detent means to be moved into engagement and snapped into locking engagement in the final assembled position of the members.
 8. A body member and vault member combination in accordance with claim 6 in which said nose portion corresponds generally to the interior shape and size of the body member and in assembled relation engages the ends of the new blades. 